Chapter 72: Devouring Power, Beyond the Conventional
A continuous stream of energy poured into Chen Ming's body through the tips of the Eight Spider Lances. Pure energy, mixed energy, and all sorts of other energies surged into him at once, dissolving within his Meridians.
However, as Chen Ming circulated the Holy Spirit Heart Method and mobilized the mouthful of Filth Qi that had been brewing in his chest for so long, the mixed energy he had absorbed was quickly stripped apart. A small portion of what remained merged into the Filth Qi.
The relatively pure portion of energy circulated through Chen Ming's body several times. With every cycle, it became a few degrees purer, until it finally transformed completely into part of Chen Ming's spirit power.
Furthermore, because he had devoured the Origin of this Spirit Beast, Chen Ming could feel a special toxic energy stored within his body.
Although this energy was unstable, like a tree without roots or duckweed without water, Chen Ming could sense that if he paid a certain price, he could fuse part of this Origin energy with his own Origin.
The price for absorbing a weak Origin was not high, and absorbing it would not necessarily strengthen him. It might even lower the purity of his own Origin.
But being able to seize the Origin of other Spirit Beasts and integrate it into himself was already a terrifying thing in its own right.
This did not merely represent progress in cultivation. It represented a fundamental transformation of the Spirit itself.
A conventional Spirit Master could only absorb nine Spirit Rings in a lifetime. These nine slots represented nine chances to obtain a Spirit Beast's Origin at an extremely low cost, integrate it into one's own Origin, and modify one's Spirit. The modification brought by a Spirit Ring was just as important as the Spirit Ability it granted. In some respects, it was even more important.
Although devouring a Spirit Beast's Origin through the Eight Spider Lances and integrating it into himself was definitely less efficient than directly absorbing a Spirit Ring, and although it required a certain price and time, such an opportunity was still extremely rare and precious.
However, this poisonous scorpion was merely an ordinary hundred-year Spirit Beast. Its Origin could not even compare to that of the Carrion Giant Lizard. Naturally, Chen Ming did not choose to merge it into his own Origin. Instead, he broke the energy down into pure spirit power and vitality for absorption, while the remaining residue that could not be absorbed was directly funneled into the Filth Qi in his chest.
Trash that could not be digested should not simply be thrown away. It was better to concentrate it and fire it off like a biochemical weapon.
Chen Ming explained his changes to Zhang Peng in detail and also mentioned his idea of devouring the Origins of other Spirit Beasts to strengthen himself.
Hearing this, Zhang Peng fell silent for a moment. He had clearly thought of another use for Chen Ming's External Spirit Bone, but after considering it for a while, he still did not say it aloud.
High-quality Spirit Beasts were becoming fewer and fewer, and they were growing harder to hunt. However, after ten thousand years of reproduction, the types and holders of top-tier Spirits among humans were far more numerous than they had been ten thousand years ago.
If a true Evil Spirit Master obtained a skill capable of plundering Origins, their first thought would absolutely not be to obtain Origins from Spirit Beasts. They would hunt Spirit Masters instead, seizing the Origin of their Spirit Bloodline.
Even for a Spirit Master who was not originally an Evil Spirit Master, nine times out of ten, they would still stray onto the wrong path when presented with such a fundamental opportunity to change themselves.
After all, enhancing the Origin and Bloodline strength of a Spirit was, in most cases, even more tempting than directly increasing one's spirit power Rank. It was also more beneficial to one's descendants.
It was just that Zhang Peng did not want to do that, and Chen Ming had deliberately avoided mentioning such things.
In a sense, the moral bottom line of this master and disciple pair, both semi-Evil Spirit Masters, was already saintly by the standards of Spirit Masters.
"Compared to devouring flesh and blood directly with your mouth, the conversion efficiency of absorbing through the External Spirit Bone seems higher?" Zhang Peng changed the subject.
"It's not quite the same. The External Spirit Bone has higher absorption efficiency. It swallows the target's Origin whole, but I have to process the energy myself. If I don't handle it well, it will accumulate in my body as Impurities."
"If I eat with my mouth, the flesh and bones are directly converted into vitality and energy inside my body, and then a small portion is converted into spirit power for me to absorb."
"To be precise, my stomach can digest and process a mess of mixed things into pure vitality and spirit power, but the absorption efficiency isn't that high. The Eight Spider Lances can quickly extract energy, but the energy extracted is chaotic and requires me to process it before I can use it."
"Is that so? I think I understand."
Chen Ming's explanation was not difficult to grasp, and Zhang Peng quickly figured out the essential difference between the two methods.
"This Hybrid Devil Spider was a cross between a Death Demon Spider and a Man Faced Demon Spider. The death and toxin attributes belonging to the Death Demon Spider side should have become the Spirit Ring, while the devouring attribute from the Man Faced Demon Spider side became the Spirit Bone."
"But don't celebrate too early. You've only just absorbed the External Spirit Bone, and you haven't completely refined and integrated it into yourself yet. There is still a possibility that the External Spirit Bone could be forcibly stripped away. Once you return to the Holy Spirit Cult and expose this ability, even I, a Super Douluo, wouldn't dare say I could definitely protect you."
"Next, I will use a training intensity several times higher than before to stimulate your further fusion with the Spirit Bone, until you have completely integrated the External Spirit Bone into yourself and made it a true part of your body, to the point where no one can strip it away. Prepare yourself for hell-style training."
Zhang Peng's face was cold as he sternly lectured Chen Ming.
And just as he had said, Chen Ming's training volume suddenly increased several times over.
If Zhang Peng's previous training for Chen Ming had consisted of some guidance combined with Chen Ming's own self-discipline, then the current Zhang Peng was doing everything possible to push Chen Ming to the edge between life and death.
Extreme marches without food, water, rest, or sleep. Life-and-death battles against Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Beasts. Sleeping while hanging between cliffs. Free-falling from mountain peaks toward the ground.
As long as it would not kill Chen Ming, Zhang Peng threw it all at him. He was determined to push every inch of Chen Ming's mind and body to the limit, squeezing out all of his potential and keeping him in a state of extreme tension every single second.
Even though Chen Ming possessed powerful defenses and was naturally resilient, under a series of extreme exercises with almost no rest time, he still entered a near-death state several times.
Once, a ten-thousand-year Ghost Leopard ambushed him and bit through his throat. Once, he fell while climbing an almost vertical cliff after being attacked by a bird-type Spirit Beast. Once, he was snatched several hundred meters into the sky by a ten-thousand-year eagle-type Spirit Beast and then dropped.
Zhang Peng only ensured that Chen Ming did not die or become crippled. Beyond that, no matter what kind of blow Chen Ming suffered, he would not intervene.
.....
[Check Out My Patreon For Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/Eldryx]